


Hold me down

by scalira



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: M/M, Raphael almost dies, Raphael doesn't want to die, Simon is a Daylighter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 15:32:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6430192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scalira/pseuds/scalira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Simon and Raphael try to get the Book of White from Camille, but they find themselves trapped in the sunlight instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold me down

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s note: I messed with canon a bit and already made Simon a Daylighter oops sorry (not really). Also I’m not sure vampires can drink their own blood in the Shadowhunters universe but I took the idea from the movie Daybreakers.

“No way.” Raphael is already turning around on his heels, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Simon chases him and grabs him by the shoulder to turn him around. Raphael glares at his hand and Simon quickly jerks back.

“You haven’t even heard everything yet!” Simon says.

“I don’t have to. No sentence that starts with ‘so, Camille’ can end well.”

“Who says I wasn’t going to say ‘so, Camille wasn’t half the leader you were’?”

Raphael squints at him.

“Thought that’s a fact, it’s not what you intended to say. Is it?”

Simon looks at the ground and bites his lip.

“No, it isn’t,” he confesses.

“But Clary needs my help and -”

Raphael scoffs, turning away from him for a second time.

“Of course. When will you stop chasing after those Shadowhunters, fledgling? It’s embarrassing, the way you lick their heels like a lost puppy.”

“Hey, keep the dog references for the werewolves.”

“I would, but you’re also friendly with _them.”_

“It’s not my fault everyone likes me!” Simon defends himself. Then he shakes his head to get back to the point.

“Anyway. Jocelyn is still under this kind of spell and the only way to wake her up can be found in the Book of White, and the owner of that book is-”

“Camille,” the older vampire interrupts.

“Yeah.”

“So, what? Are you just going to _ask her nicely_?” Raphael wonders. He’s looking at Simon again, that look in his eyes that suggests he’s better than he is. On a normal day Simon would probably want to punch that look straight off his smug face, but not today. Today, he takes a deep breath (even though he doesn’t have to anymore), looks him in the eye and says: “No. You’re going to come down to that basement with me, free her and demand her to give us that book.”

Raphael laughs.

“Oh really? And why would I do that?”

“Because,” Simon says calmly, leaning back to create some space between them, “if you don’t, your clan will think you’re scared of her. Can’t even ask her for a stupid book when she’s weak and hasn’t fed in weeks?” He shrugs. “Not the fearless leader they need, is it?”

Raphael hisses at him, exposing his sharp fangs. Once, Simon had been afraid of them. Now, he has to surpress the urge to yawn in his face. Raphael may be a big, scary vampire, but Simon is too. And Simon is stronger, with the young fledgling blood still running through his veins.

The clan leader doesn’t say anything as he leaves the room, slamming the door behind him like an angry child.

That night, they descend into the basement.

**~~**

Camille escapes.

She wasn’t as weak as they had expected, throwing both Raphael and Simon against a wall and taking off so fast she became one big blur, even for Simon’s vampire eyes.

“How is that even possible?” Simon grunts as Raphael helps him up. 

“She fed on herself,” Raphael snarls, his nose scrunching in disgust.

“Can vampires do that?”

“Yes, but it’s not something we normally do. Drinking your own blood - it makes you sick. It’s wrong, an abomination. Only the most desperate vampires do it. Mostly, we’d rather starve to death than to take our own blood.”

Simon shudders. Though he hasn’t been a vampire that long, he can just _sense_  how wrong this is in this world. His world.

“I’m going after her,” he decides, walking past Raphael to climb the stairs. Raphael shoots forward to wrap a hand around Simon’s bicep.

“No, you’re not. It’s not worth it. She’ll kill you the moment she gets the chance.”

“I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“No, you don’t. You’re staying here, and that’s it.”

Simon jerks his arm out of Raphael’s grip and glares at him.

“Look, Jocelyn is like my second mom. And if I can’t see my own mother for Satan knows how long, I’ll be damned if I don’t try anything in my power to save her. I know she’d do the same for me.”

Raphael’s eyes bore into Simon’s, dark and brooding and searching for any sign of weakness or hesitation. But Simon knows where his loyalties lie and what he would do for the people he loves, so he rolls his shoulders and stands his ground.

Eventually, the older vampire sighs dramatically and walks towards the stairs. When he’s halfway, he turns to Simon.

“Well? Are you coming or not? We have a stupid book to find.”

**~~**

They track Camille all the way to the outskirts of Brooklyn. The area is unfamiliar to Raphael, but Simon smugly navigates his way through the streets and over fences. Raphael may be the leader of his clan, but Simon is the leader when it comes to Brooklyn.

They find her feeding on not one, but two Mundanes, switching from neck to neck. The blood dripping from her chin glinters in the moonlight.

“Camille,” Raphael says calmly. Her head jerks up and Simon almost flinches from her black eyes, but he reassures himself that she can’t hurt him. Not anymore. Well, she could kill him for real this time, but Simon has gone past caring about that.

“What do you want, traitor?” She spits. It’s the first thing he hears her say in a long time and Simon startles from how weird her voice sounds. Now that he’s no longer a Mundane, he realizes she isn’t that attractive at all without having the power to hypnotize him.

“We know you have the Book of White. We need it.”

Camile snickers and if anything has ever sounded like pure insanity, this is it.

“And why do you think I’ll give it to you? You’re the one who overthrew me.”

“You inflicted that upon yourself.” Raphael’s voice is still calm, but some ice is creeping into it. If Simon could still get goosebumps, his arms would be filled with them.

“You broke the Accords, you went too far, you became hungry for power until it consumed you. I had nothing to do with it.”

“Oh, right,” Camille smiles. She drops the Mundane she was holding like a sack of potatoes and slowly approaches them. She reminds Simon of a lioness, of a hunter. Which means they are the prey.

“You’re a perfect little saint, aren’t you? Holy Raphael Santiago. My trustworthy second in command, the one person I thought would never betray me.” She’s close now. Simon can smell the blood on her chin and his fangs pop out.

Camille notices and jerks her head to Simon. She looks as if this is the first time she’s noticed he’s here too.

“Aha, I see you brought your new pet? The little Mundane. My property.”

“Not a Mundane anymore,” Simon growls.

“Thanks to you.”

She cocks a bow at him, raises her lips in a sly smile.

“I was perfectly fine staking you through the heart and throwing you in the gutter, but of course Raphael decided to grow a conscience before I could.”

Then she walks around Simon, tracing his shoulder with her long finger.

“Or,” she continues, “maybe he knew vampirism would suit you. So, you’re welcome.”

Then she walks over to Raphael, who’s standing perfectly still. She could snap his neck if she wanted to, but instead she gets all up in his personal space and drags her red lips over his ear.

“You know, Raphael,” she says loud enough for Simon to hear, “I loved you. I really did, even though I knew you could never love me back. And for you to betray me like that… it broke my heart.”

“What heart?” Raphael spits, still still like a statue. Only his jaw is moving, clenching and unclenching as he speaks.

Camille smiles.

“So rude,” she tuts.

“I thought your mother had raised you better.”

Raphael turns around so fast Simon woud’ve missed it if he had blinked and slams Camille against the nearest wall with such force some bricks crumble.

“Oh, still a sore spot?” Camille asks innocently, remaining unbothered by Raphael’s firm grip on her arms.

“Shut up, you witch,” Raphael hisses. He releases one of her arms to wrap a hand around her neck instead.

“Now, you’re going to tell us where we can find that book, or I’ll decapitate you myself.”

“Should’ve done that when you had the chance,” she says flatly, and then Simon can’t see what’s happening anymore because he’s being thrown to the ground and something is on top of him, trying to claw its way through his skin.

There’s a loud hiss, like an army of cats simultaneously putting up a high back, and then the weight is lifted off of him. When Simon sits up straight, he sees Raphael trying to fight off two newly turned vampires, their skin still rosy from the human blood slowly leaving their bodies.

Simon glances over at the spot where Camille fed on the two Mundanes, only to find it empty. She must’ve turned them before Raphael spoke to her, must’ve told them what to do.

“A little help would be much appreciated, Daylighter,” Raphael yells, tossing a new fledgling against the very same wall he had Camille pinned up against only seconds before.

_Camille._

Simon’s eyes dart over the area and land on her figure, standing on top of the roof of a warehouse. The sky is turning purple behind her.

She smiles, looks over her shoulder to the slowly rising sun, and disappears.

“Simon!” Raphael’s voice is different now, laced with something close to panic. He almost never addresses Simon with his first name unless it’s very serious, and Simon’s body reacts before his brain can.

He’s up on his feet and grabbing the second fledgling by its shoulders before he can truly register what he’s doing, wrapping a hand around it’s neck and pulling pulling pulling -

A loud crack fills the early morning air as its head pops off its neck like a Barbie doll. Simon doesn’t have time to think about what he just did - about the murder he just committed - and lets the body and head fall to the ground to help Raphael with the other newly turned vampire.

The older vampire is struggling, avoiding clapping jaws and grabby hands. Fledglings are stronger than normal vampires are, and if they have gotten instructions they won’t stop until they have fullfilled them.

Simon grabs the other fledgling by its shoulders and pulls it off Raphael. He tosses it away and it lands straight into the morning sunlight, turning into dust right in front of their eyes.

“The sun,” Simon whispers. It’s slowly but surely creeping towards them and, as Simon realizes with a shock, there is nowhere for them to hide.

He looks back at Raphael, who’s leaning heavily against the wall. He looks injured.

“Raphael?” Simon asks, walking back towards him. 

“Are you okay?”

Raphael grunts, presses his hand to his side. He tries to turn away from him, but Simon gently takes Raphael’s hand and pulls it away from the wound.

“Oh my G- _fuck_ , Raphael. You’re bleeding. That’s blood. That’s _your_  blood.”

“I am aware of that,” Raphael snarls.

“But - you’ll heal, right? You’ll be okay?”

“Of… of course I will be,” Raphael pants. He looks even paler than usual, if that’s possible.

“Let’s just get out of here.”

He takes a step but loses his balance. He grips the wall for more support as he closes his eyes.

Simon drapes Raphael’s arm over his shoulder to support his weight and puts his own hand against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. But as they take another step, Raphael collapses onto the ground.

“Hey, hey! That doesn’t look like healing. What’s happening to you?”

“I -” Raphael clenches and unclenches his jaw, taking a sharp breath before continuing, “They drank Camille’s blood. Otherwise they wouldn’t have turned. And - Camile fed on herself, which… which means her blood is poisonous. When one of them bit me, we must’ve exchanged - exchanged some blood. They poisoned me,” he pants. Though vampires don’t need air, he’s still gasping for it out of old reflex.

“So - so what does that mean? Are you dying? For real?”

“I don’t know what that means, Simon! All I know is that - that I can’t move and -the sun is rising.”

“I’ll carry you,” Simon says, already moving to haul Raphael into his arms. But the other vampire shakes his head.

“We don’t - have enough time. We’ll… never make it- to the DuMort.”

“Well, I’m not leaving you either!”

Raphael wants to reply, but his jaw is clenching without his will now. His fangs bite through his lower lip.

Simon desperately pats his pockets to look for his cell phone, only to remember he left it back at the DuMort to charge. A wave of panic hits him then, realizing they’re left to the mercy of the sun here.

Raphael can’t say anything anymore, his jaw screwed shut and his veins slowly turning black. The poison is spreading from his wound.

Simon has never been a leader. He was usually the classclown, the kid everyone liked but nobody took seriously. He never really minded not having enough influence on people to make them follow him, to make them listen to his plans because he never _had_ a plan to listen to.

But now, as the leader of the two is desperately gasping for air he doesn’t even need and rolling his eyes like a trapped, panicked animal, Simon makes a plan.

It’s not a really good one and Simon isn’t even sure it’ll work, but it’s the best he can come up with as the sun creeps closer still.

“Raphael,” he says as calmly as he can, trying to mimic Raphael’s tone he uses to address his clan.

“Listen to me. I need you to sit up and pull up your legs, can you do that? Pull them as close to your chest as you can. We’re gonna sit this through, okay?”

Raphael’s eyes shoot to Simon, bloodshot and huge with fear. 

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you die. I promise. Just trust me.”

Raphael still looks terrified and Simon tries to convince himself it’s because he’s being poisoned from the inside and not because he doesn’t trust Simon. He carefully helps him sit up and lets his back rest against the wall. Then he positions himself in front of Raphael, kneeling so that he’s casting a shadow over Raphael’s frame. He holds his jacket open to create some more shade and hopes for the best.

Simon feels the exact moment the sun hits his back. Not only does Raphael flinch back and tries to disappear into the wall, but every single vampire instinct in Simon’s body screams for him to get away from the sun.

But Simon isn’t an ordinary vampire. he’s a Daylighter, and the sun won’t hurt him.

The sun climbs higher and higher, and if Simon could still sweat, his shirt would be drenched by now. Raphael still can’t talk, but he doesn’t have to. His fear radiates off him like something physical, like something Simon could touch.

Simon is nervous too, worried that his body won’t shield Raphael enough from the deadly sunlight. But when his entire back is bathing in it, Raphael’s body is still completely in the shade.

His plan worked. 

**~~**

Around noon, Raphael starts seizuring.

It starts small, his body shivering once or twice like he’s cold. But then his jaw clenches again and his fangs pierce his lip, drawing blood. Raphael grunts as he starts slipping from the wall, his body shocking harder now. Simon holds him in place, careful to make sure he doesn’t touch the sunlight.

“Si- Si-mon,” Raphael pants, struggling even with his simple name.

“It’s okay, buddy, just hang in there.”

Raphael’s muscles tighten as he tries to recollect himself, breathing heavily despite not having to.

“Do- don’t… le- leave… m- me,” he manages to say between his clenched jaws, his eyes desperately scanning Simon’s face.

Simon may not have known Raphael for that long yet, but he knows he’s not one to show fear or to beg, especially to a fledgling. He shifts on his knees and tries to give Raphael even more shade.

“I won’t. I promise.”

Raphael jerks his head in an attempt to nod and breathes out through his nose, relaxing his muscles until he stops shaking. He can still barely move and his eyes still dart everywhere in panic, but he lets his forehead rest against Simon’s collarbone.

“Th- thank y-ou,” he breathes.

And then he loses consciousness.

**~~**

By the time the sun is finally setting and has them left in dusk, Raphael hasn’t moved in a few hours. He’s sitting perfectly still, not even breathing anymore. His veins are now almost completely black, which can’t be good. At all.

Simon takes a deep breath to calm himself before standing and stretching his sore limbs from sitting in the same position the entire day.

Then he kneels again, carefully takes Raphael into his arms and lifts him from the ground.

Raphael doesn’t respond, doesn’t even open his eyes. it feels like Simon is carrying a dead body instead of an undead one.

He knows there is only one person who can help them, and that’s Magnus Bane.

So Simon makes his way to the High Warlock, avoiding the sun and protectively pressing Raphael closer to his chest. He talks to them as he walks, telling him everything is going to be okay and that he just needs to hang in there.

Raphael doesn’t reply.

**~~**

It takes Simon too long to get to Magnus for his liking. He has no way of telling whether or not Raphael is still alive (or… un-alive, or undead, or _whatever_ ) and it’s stressing him out.

Magnus turns pale as soon as Simon enters his loft, jumping off the couch to walk over to him.

“Hope I’m not interrupting,” Simon says curtly as he lowers Raphael ont the couch.

“What happened?” Magnus asks, his voice high with panic.

“Camille happened,” Simon replies between clenched jaws.

“She somehow poisoned Raphael and we were trapped in the sun all day. Can you help him?”

“How did she poison him?” Magnus kneels next to Raphael, hovering a hand over his chest.

“With her blood. She fed on herself and then created some fledglings who attacked us. Raphael said he must’ve accidentally exchanged some blood with one of them.”

Magnus hums, presses a finger to Raphael’s neck. Simon doesn’t know why he does that because it’s not like he’ll find a pulse, but he guesses it’s just some warlock thing to do.

“We have to get the poison out.”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. But _how_?”

“Well, if you would just let me finish my sentence instead of rudely interrupting me…” Magnus mumbles, but then he sees the expression on Simon’s face and falters.

“Don’t worry, Simon. I can help him, but we need to be quick.”

Magnus gets up and walks to a table, taking a moment to glance over the things lying on top of it before reaching for a sharp knife.

“Hold him down,” he instructs Simon. Simon moves to press Raphael’s shouders into the couch as Magnus walks around it and lifts up Raphael’s shirt.

It’s even worse close to the wound. Raphael’s skin is almost completely black there and there’s a stench coming from the wound that makes Simon gag.

“What are you gonna do?” He asks Magnus.

“I’m gonna cut out the wound to stop the poison from spreading. It’s gonna hurt and he’s going to come for me, so you _have_ to hold him down. You hear me?”

“Loud and clearly,” Simon nods, digging his fingers deeper into Raphael’s shoulders.

Magnus takes one last, deep breath and then he brings down the knife, quickly cutting around the wound. Raphael’s eyes fly open and he tries to sit up, growling and hissing and clapping his jaws at Magnus. Simon struggles to hold him down, putting his entire weight on Raphael’s shoulders.

“Simon, hold him!” Magnus screams, dodging Raphael’s sharp fingernails as dark red blood soils his couch.

“I’m trying!”

“Try harder!”

Simon curses under his breath and gets onto Raphael’s chest, pressing his thighs against his ribs and holding his arms down. Raphaels lifts his head up and hisses at Simon, throws a string of Spanish swearwords into his direction.

“Yeah, I know. But you’re going to thank me for this, I swear.”

“Got it!” Magnus exclaims. He walks around the couch again, holding a piece of meat. Simon gags again but focuses on Raphael squirming underneath him, still furious but definitely alive.

“Here,” Magnus says once he returns, holding out a cup with some purple substance to Raphael.

“Drink up. It’ll get the poison out of your system.”

Raphael is still looking deadly with his jet black eyes and sharp fangs, but the murderous look has disappeared from his face.

“If I get off you, are you gonna behave yourself?” Simon asks.

“If you don’t get off me, I’m gonna rip out your tongue and feed it to a stray cat.”

Simon makes a face.

“Well, at least you care about the wellbeing of our local feral felines.”

Then he gets off and hands him the drink, which Raphael downs in one go. He coughs and takes in a sharp breath.

“ _Dios,_ what is this?” He wonders.

“Something that just saved your life,” Magnus replies, taking the cup from Raphael.

“You are welcome.”

**~~**

It takes Raphael a few hours to get the poison out of his sytem completely, and by the time they’re finally back at the DuMort, the sun is almost rising again.

Simon is absolutely exhausted, almost falling asleep on the spot, and he can’t wait to get into bed. But Raphael stops him right in front of this bedroom, suddenly looking sheepish.

“I - uh, want to… thank you. You saved my life today. I owe you.”

Simon grimaces. 

“If this is one of those ‘I owe you my life and will not stop until I somehow save yours’ things, you can keep it.”

Raphael rolls his eyes at him.

“I’m just trying to thank you, Simon. Don’t make me regret it.”

“Did you just call me Simon?”

“That is your name, right?”

Simon is pleasantly surprised by this development and shrugs.

“Yeah, but you… you normally call me fledgling or Daylighter or even baby.”

Now it’s Raphael’s time to shrug. The movement almost makes him look human.

“You protected me from the sun the entire day and brought me to Magnus so he could get the poison out. I think the least I can do is call you by your name.”

Simon smiles brightly, and it turns into a grin when Raphael smiles back.

“So, uh, yeah,” Raphael stutters, scratching the back of his neck. He suddenly looks awkward and out of place in front of Simon’s door.

“Sleep well.”

Then he turns around on his heels and walks away. Simon looks at the back of his neck unti he disappears around the corner.

Yeah, Simon knows where his loyalties lie and what he would do for the people he loves. He just never expected Raphael to be one of those people.

**Author's Note:**

> So this was my very first time writing Saphael. I hope you enjoyed it and feedback is always welcome!


End file.
